Khái niệm cốt lõi
The author implemented a scaffolded version of a mock conference project in an undergraduate Theory of Computing (ToC) course to provide students with a more structured research experience and better assess their understanding of ToC concepts.
Tóm tắt
The author describes their experiences in implementing and running a scaffolded version of a mock conference project in an undergraduate Theory of Computing (ToC) course. The project was divided into three phases, each with a plan, check-in, draft, and review component, to provide students with a more structured research experience compared to a previous unscaffolded version.
The key highlights and insights from the author's implementation are:
- The scaffolding helped ensure no late or missing submissions, as students could focus on smaller tasks before considering the "big picture" of the paper.
- Having a single theme for each project group allowed students to write more cohesive abstracts, introductions, and conclusions.
- Covering nearly all ToC topics in the project provided insights into where students struggle, particularly with proof writing.
- There was a fairly high correlation between students' performance on the project and their final exam scores, suggesting the project was effective in assessing their understanding of ToC concepts.
- Implementing this project in large ToC courses would require significant administrative and grading overhead, but the author provides suggestions for automating certain aspects to make it more scalable.
- The author observed a potential bimodal distribution in student performance, which warrants further investigation.
Overall, the scaffolded mock conference project provided a more authentic research experience for students in the ToC course, while also serving as an effective assessment tool for the instructor.